According to a recent Philadelphia Inquirer article, many townships are planning to mount local fights against the Mariner East 2 Pipeline. Many pipeline opponents claim the approved project would violate local zoning ordinances.
Eric Friedman, president of the Andover Homeowners’ Association, and David Brooman, a lawyer representing West Goshen, said a “citizens group will be suing them to enforce zoning not just here but in other communities.”
As a reminder, the Mariner East 2 project has been fully permitted for construction. More than 29,000 comments were submitted to the PA DEP and the project has been in the planning stages for more than 2.5 years. Sunoco Logistics has held more than 100 opportunities for input from any concerned localities. Any legal challenge to Mariner East’s permitting is predicated on faulty assumptions and, as we have already seen, are not aligned with the courts’ interpretation.
Moreover, Pennsylvania’s economy stands to benefit greatly from the infusion of capital and job opportunities provided by the Mariner East 2 pipeline. The project will inject $4.2 billion into Pennsylvania’s economy and provide $62 million in tax revenue during the construction phase alone.
As construction is already underway, it’s time we focus on Pennsylvania’s future and get to work.